Airbnb Hires Former Meta AI Chief Ahmad Al-Dahle as CTO
Photo Credit: Ahmad Al-Dahle, formerly of Meta and Apple, joins Airbnb as its new CTO. Courtesy of Airbnb
Skift Take
By hiring Meta’s former generative AI chief as CTO, Airbnb showed that AI is no longer a side project — and underscored online travel’s competition for Big Tech talent.
Airbnb has appointed Ahmad Al-Dahle, formerly the head of generative artificial intelligence at Meta and a longtime Apple engineering leader, as its new chief technology officer.
Al-Dahle replaces outgoing CTO Ari Balogh, who resigned in December after seven years. The appointment puts one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent AI engineers at the top of Airbnb’s technical hierarchy, signaling a sharper push toward generative search and personalized travel planning.
